The ice was here, the ice was there,
The ice was all around:
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound!

Rimy is a poetic word; it comes from Old English, and it means "frosty."

Even if you're just now encountering the word rimy, you can tell that it means "full of rime," that is, "full of frost," and if you roll the word "rime" around in your brain, it'll probably settle on that poem's title: "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

You remember that one, probably from high school. The one about the cursed old sailor and the albatross and everything.

Okay, so if rime is frost, does the title of the poem mean "The Frost of the Ancient Mariner"? Only figuratively! On the surface, "rime" in that title is just an old-fashioned way of spelling "rhyme." So the title means "The Rhyme (Poem) of the Ancient Mariner." But titles are sly. They hide extra meanings. I bet this one also means "The Bitter Coldness and Old Age of the Ancient Mariner." Because as we'll see below, the word rime connotes not just frost but also old age and the passing of time.

Much like how the poetic word s__e connotes death, old age, autumn, and the color yellow, even though it just means "dry."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

make your point with...

"RIMY"

Strictly speaking, rime is frost or frozen mist. Loosely speaking, rime is any thin coating that reminds you of frost. And figuratively speaking, rime is the "frost" or "coating" of old age, antiquity, or the passing of time.

In formal texts, especially in fiction and poetry, we find "rime" in hyphenated terms like "rime-cold," "rime-white," "rime-covered," "rime-laden," and the somewhat redundant "rime-frosted."

So, something rimy is frosty, coated in frost, or coated in something that reminds you of frost, often in a poetic way that suggests old age, antiquity, or the passing of time.

Pronunciation:RYE me
(It rhymes with "grimy" and "slimy" but is so much lovelier.)

Part of speech:Adjective: "a rimy morning," "the rimy fields."

Other forms:The noun is "rime."
An alternate adjective is "rimed."

How to use it:

Use this rare, beautiful word when you need to be formal and poetic, especially when you need to evoke agedness, antiquity, or timelessness.

Or, call something a rimy white, gray, blue, etc.

Or, talk about rimy days, mornings, nights, weeks, winters, etc.

Or, a rimy scene, tone, mood, atmosphere, etc.

Or, at the risk of being redundant, a rimy chill, frost, freeze, etc.

You can also say that something is rimy (or rimed) with something else: "a margarita glass, its rim rimy with salt;" "ancient names rimed with glory."

examples:

"The hands were noteworthy. They were large-knuckled, sinewy and malformed by labour, rimed with callouses, the nails blunt and broken, and with here and there cuts and bruises, healed and healing, such as are common to the hands of hard-working men. On the back were huge, upstanding veins, eloquent of age and toil."— Jack London, The Strength of the Strong, 1919

"And it was a weird and desolate scene, that winter expanse of sea and land upon which the wanderer's glance was bent... he strode rapidly on through the rimy heather plants and the chill, bracing whiff of the salt sea."— Bertram Mitford, Dorrien of Cranston, 1903

has this page helped you understand "rimy"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "rimy" without saying "chilly" or "wintry."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "Glimpsing the rimy (white, blue, or gray) _____, I shivered."

Example: "Glimpsing the rimy white gravestones, I shivered."

before you review, play:

Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.

Quintessential TV Quotes!

Each day, match the given vocabulary word to the quote that best illustrates it.

From the previous issue:

Quote A:

Robert: I thought you didn't like him?
Violet: So what? I have plenty of friends I don't like.

Quote B:

Robert: I don't know why you're making such a fuss, Mama. You'd visit Denker if she were locked up.
Violet: Only to check if the locks were sound.

Quote C:

Robert: I've given my life to Downton. I was born here, and I hope to die here. I claim no career beyond the nurture of this house and the estate. It is my third parent, and my fourth child. Do I care about it? Yes, I do care!

Answer: In quote C, Robert demonstrates a fervent devotion to Downton.

Try this one today:

Quote A:

Bender: You may have to metaphorically make a deal with the devil. And by "devil," I mean Robot Devil. And by "metaphorically," I mean get your coat.

Quote B:

Leela: As unclean as it makes me feel, I agree with Bender. Kids don't turn rotten just because of what they see on TV.
Fry: Yeah. Give a little credit to our public schools.

Quote C:

Professor Farnsworth: Remember, we need to show these people that we are not bitter husks of human beings who long ago abandoned hope of finding love in this lifetime. Leela, you'll have to do some acting.
Leela: Check.

Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.